Syringe and ampoule



Jan. Z5, 1949. Mj FOLKMAN sYRINGE AND AMPOULE 2 sheets-sheet 1nllllllal' Filed sept. 11, 1944 Jan. 25,v 1949. y YM. l.. FOLKMAN`y2&4598'75 S'YRINGE AND AMPOULE Filed Sept. 11, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Patented Jan. 25, 1949 UNITED STATES lATENT OFFICE sermon.' AND AMPQULEMarvin..L.-Flkman, shakes Heights, ohio 'Appueatimseptember 11, 1944;seriarNafs-ss'geos This invention pertains to' the. art et. hypodermicor similar syringes and; involves novel im'- provements' in this typeof. surgical instruments.

An especial. object of theinve'ntion; nasbeen to produce a syringe otthe classimentionediniwhich energy storingmeans, which mayi be. of amechanical orfluid: pressuretype, `Ihay be availed of for ejecting the.medicant in the" syringe therefrom through! ther hypoderm-ic need-1eyIor through other similar applicator' means.

i preferred formi of the" invention-isi contain'- platedl tov utilizeVan improved type-of energy storing spring' asi thev mechanical means'yorejecting the medicant' from the syringe, andix the inveny tion.involves,v further; different types. of? operating,-` instrumentalitieswhereby to compress or otlrier'wi'se act upon?v sa-id spring in order!to Store up the energy required? 'for the ejec'ting action previouslyreierredf to'.

Still/f another object of the invention has been to* devise certainnovelinstrumentalties control"- ling: the application'of the: force ofythe energy storing" means to: the ampoule or cartridge-which containsthe" medicanti; Y v

It is notablethat'z the: syringev of' the. type of my invention. i'sutilizedA in connection. with ampoules or cartridges" tobe emplacedtherein preliminary to ejection of@ inedicant"therefrorn,and one oftheobjects oft the invention is toI facilitatethe load-- ing and unloading.of' the' ampoules with' respect tol-the syringe casing orbody.

Another object of the invention has been to devise a syringeeonstructionin which complete ease of holding and' manipulation is olotaina'blein luse and no' stretching or special-"extramanipula- Ytionofi the lian'diis required in order lto force the medi'cant from the syringe. H

.A special feature of the invention. residesfin the instrumentalitiesemployed?k in' my" .instrument whereby' the ease` oi control?of:v the'operation thereof isV greatly enhanced. In other Words', my control'instrumentalities respond? instantlyV in respect to' giving either dropLby drop or full stream flow of the' medicant from the adminis'-teringneedle by means of simple nger pressure and' the me'dicant'sreadily' further controllable to be h'eld inV the' syringe" untill it'is required for use. Likewise, a further?ohjectiv-'e'lieslin having aconstruction of cartridge or ampoule in which medic-ant ismaintainedid'ryeind freefiom deterioration byf moisture or lightuntil it islreadyfor use.. at winchA time practically instantaneous .and completedissolving of' therrie'dicarlt4 Inayfbe eff# In syringes ofv4 thev classof myn-invention; one-of 3 Claims.- (Cl. 1428-215) the essentialthingsdesirable is to practicalize and reduce the cost of the ampoule asmuch as possible'. bvfiouslyv the ampoules are manufactured and sold inlarge numbers, and itis a further object hereof that my' invention shallproevide an ampoule 'or cartridge which maybe. made in a very simplemanner. from al manufacturing viewpoint, so as 13o/reduce the expensethereof to a minimum, vandiyet.4 be very eiectivey in its actualcoopera-tive use inr conjunction with the syringe instrument, forthevpurpose' of ejecting the medicanttherefrom through the administeringneedle' or other applicator" to' be employed.

Other objects of my invention willbecome more appa-rentas thisidescription proceeds, and 1I. have illustrated: different-modineationsormy invention for preferred constructions' thereof, in` theaccompanying drawings, in which.:

Figure 1i isi ai 'longitudinal' sectional vieE/f of a hypodermic syringeembodying the essential features.of"my invention, and'v in thisigure theam'- poulel ii'lustrated andf leil'aced.f in the syringe' i's shownjustafter' the fnvernentthereof bywlich the end disc of the ampoule ispunctured in order to' establish communication Between the needle andthey medican't chamber. Y

Figure 2 is ai fragmentary top View partly in section showing theapplicator portion of myi syringe and bringing out more clearlyV theside openings of the said lportion through'y which the ampoule may' beintroduced into the applicator section previous' to theuse of thesyringe; certain brake devices arealso'illustratedt for holding theenergy storing means against action for ejectng the contents of th'eampoule through the needle applicator. fli'gure 3L i's aseotional View`taken on the" line -Sif Figure' 22.10`dking'" in the' direction of" thearrows.. y

yi'gure. 1 is 'al view looking' toward the operating end of the syringeor handle means and illustrating the actuating-gearing for initiatingthe storaigeof energy the compressionlspring.

i Figure 5 illustrates asectional. View of. amodiled form-f of theVJampoule-in which fluidpressure may be generated forthe purpose oiobtaining; the necessary energy" fork ejecting the medican't from theampouleand! fromthe syringe.A

l Eigurel is ai partial l'ongitudinalsectionalview showing' moreparticularly' the operating section ofmysyringexand illustrating amodified form of vto the ejecting operation.

3 trating still another modification of my invention.

Figure 8 is a vertical sectional view taken about on the line 8-8 ofFigure T.

Figure 9 is a view similar to Figures 6 and 7 but showing a modincationof the same class of construction.

Figure l0 is a vertical sectional view taken about on the line IS--Hl ofFigure 9. ,L 4

Figure 11 Ais a transverse or vertical sectional view takenV about onthe line H--H of Figure 6.

Figure 12 is a dual fragmentary section and -now set forth the detailstructure or formation of my ampoule and its parts. The ampoule orcartridge is generally designated A and comprises a straight glass tube.At one end of this glass tube A is a movable plunger and attached tosaid plunger is the tube which contains the medicant v to be dissolvedand then subsequently injected. For simplicity and economy the saidplunger, instead of being molded, as has been the pra-ctice in the artbefore, is made up of laminated discs cemented together. approximately1/8" thickness can be cemented together for making the said plunger, Iprefer, as shown in Figure l of the drawings, to'utilize an outerimperforate rubber disc B, an inner perforated rubber disc D, andbetween the two discs I emplace avfelt or asbestos disc'C also centrallyperforated. The felt disc 4C offers advantages in facilitating movementof the plunger as well as in conjunction with the rubber discs providingfor the necessary tightness of the While two rubber-discs of 1 plungerin the tube A.Y Likewise, the vdisc C at i its peripheral edge may becaused to carry a nlm vof glycerine, which will act as a lubricant.

Obviously, the discs D, C, and B Vcan readily be stamped from sheets ofsuitable material oi the 'i used for cementing the discs B, C, and Dtogether,

The inner end of the plunger, as above described, notably the outerplunger of the ampoule vas it is emplaced in the applicatorfsection ofmy "syringe, has cemented to the disc D a thin plastic disc E, andintegral with this plastic disc E is disposed at right angles to theplane thereof .a hollow tube Which carries or contains the medicant. The

medicant is thus permanently housed or protected from moisture and lightinsaid tube until it is ready to be dissolved and used. The tube 5''mentioned is designated F and is disposed Veccentric to the axis orcenter of the 'plunger so that it serves the function of anfarm as'laterdescribed, the purpose ofY which is to open the water compartment whenthe entire plunger is pushed back into the glass tube A preliminary Thediscs or members C, D, and E are centrally perforated, vwhile therubber'disc B is not perforated. The object in this connection is tomaintain'the contents of 4 the ampoule air-tight at Vthe end of the samewhere the plunger means just described is located. As will be later .setforth, the rubber disc B will be centrally punctured in order toestablish communication between the hollow portion of the syringe needleand the medicant containing chamber of the ampoule.

Located approximately near the middle portion of the tube AV istherubber disc orpartition H which seals up vthe medicant in the chamberF of the tube and separates it from the liquid in the chamber, orcompartment I, which liquid is employed to mix with the Vmedicant in thechamber Fand thus place the medicant in solution. At the righthand orinner end of the ampoule of the tube A is located a plunger which isvery similar in construction to the Yiirst described plunger, in thatitcomprises a unit made up of discs R, S, T. The discs R and 'I are madeof rubber and the disc S of felt.

The foregoing description of the ampoule applies to the construction ofthis member of my Yinvention as illustrated in Figure ll of thedrawings. However, in FigureY 5 I show a somewhat modified ampouleconstruction in that I desire under some conditions to provide Vsuch aconstruction wherein the pressure force may be generated inthe ampouleitself for the expulsion of the medicant therefrom. In Figure 5,therefore, my ampoule is of the same general construction which has beenpreviously set forth in respect to Figure l, but Yis elongated inrespect to the length of the glass tube container.

According to the construction of Figure 5, the left end plunger means,the partition H, and the right end closing plunger R, S,T, are aspreviously set forth. However, in this construction I provide ,a middlespecial composite plunger the parts of which are designated J, K, L, andM, and which correspond generally with the parts B,-C, D, E, as setforth. The middleplunger means J, K, L, M involves the use of a plastic.disc or member M in which the offstanding arm designated Nis solid andmerely constitutes a tilting arm fora partition or disc P that separateswater in the compartment Q from the dry gas producing medium which isillustrated in tablet form in the compartment O which is disposedbetween the member-P and the member M. The manner of use of the ampoulejust described will be set forth later, though the principle ofoperation involves the tilting of the disc or partition P so that thewater in the chamber Q may act in conjunction with the gas producingmedium in `the compartment O to generate a gas by which the medicant inthe compartment G, in dissolved condition, may be caused to pass from.the ampoule tothe administering needle.

Describing my syringe asfit is illustrated in Figure Il of thedrawings,l I generally characterize the body of thesyringe as beingdivided into a left hand applicator section and a right hand operatingsection, because the means for supplying the medicant from the syringeis primarily located vin the applicator section while the right hand'section of the syringe body is devoted to contain- .ing the operatingmechanism for forcingthe medicant from the syringe,

At one end of the applicator section-of the syringe body is located thenozzle l which carries the needle 26-21. V The outer end of the needle,namely 26, is used for making the injection in the patient. TheA inner.end oi the needle, namely 21, is employed to puncture the cartridgeorampoule plunger B and establish contact between the. hollow portion ofthe needlel and the dissolved medicant which is formedk in the ampouleas later to be setforth.

My syringe is of. the side loading type and the cartridge is thereforeinserted in the side opening 2A of the .syringe and pressed. forward or'to: the left in Figure l as iai' as it will go, thisI performing two-actions-'rst, the puncturing of thev rubber disc B, and second, theforcv ing. of the left endV plunger of the ampoule ine wardly in the`tube A. When the ampoule is emplaced vin its chamber' of the applicatorsec tion of:` my syringe, the sleeve 'I .surrounding the said sectionwill .be pulled leftwar'd or toward the needle 26 in order to partiallycover the rear pomion or thel opening 2 and prevent accidentaldisplacement of the ampoule in handling the syringe.

AS- stated before, as the ampoule is moved'to the left or` forward, thepart Ia, of the syringe nozzle engages the plunger B, C, D, E of theampoule and thus moves the entire plunger inward'ly in the glass tube A.This movement of the rsaid plunger causes the medicant tube F to bearagainst thev closure orY partition disc H swinging it around andpermitting the solvent inthe compartment I to dissolve the medicant inthe tube F. The plastic disc E of the plunger B, C, D, E near the middleportion. thereof has projections shown in Figure l2 to prevent thepossibility of the disc H falling. in a position that might causeclosing of the middle aperture of said part. E. The said projections aredesignated E irl-.the drawings. Y

Itis apparent that simultaneously with the dissolving of the medicant inthe water from the chamber I. by the above action of emplacing andmoving the ampoule inthe syringe, the needle 2l will have punctured thedisc B of the let end plunger and thus contact isV established betweenthe compartment G of the ampoule and the needle Zlib-21l By reason oithe special control instrumentalities usedv for my syringe and now to bedescribed in reference to the operating section thereof, the medicantwill not flow from the' needle 26 until placed under pressure bytheenergy storing or pressure means now tobe set forth.

The pressure for forcing the liquid .,m'edicanl',V from the ampoule isobtained fromvthe energy storing spring I2.. This spring is cncloseduina spring case made in two sections 6 and I5, each one'closed: at one endand open at theother end, the two-ends which are openbeingtelescopically fitted together and' slidable so that the secthatthebody ci the syringe is' made up 'of the Y nozzle I, the left handapplicator section Ib of hollow form the right hand operating section Icof similar hollow form, and the middle bulged f' portion Id" whichprovides a brake chamber` or chamber for certainv mechanism. ofy thesyringe. The parts Ib, I.c, and: lid might-be integral, but the part I cisvshown inthe drawings adapted to be screwedLintofth-ef part I-d'so aslto provide for separation of the' casing element for access.' totheinterior thereof. At the right hand end of the operating section isan enlarged portion Ie which may be termed a handle section and containscertain gearing under some modifications ot the invention.

Reverting to the spring compression mechanism oi my syringe, it isnotable that the outer or larger section il of the spring case must bekept rigid so that. the spring may be completely compressed without'having it push the bearing end of the spring case t against the plungerof the ampoule or cartridge; otherwise the contents of the cartridgewould' be expelled beforev desired. 'I have shown modified arrangementsfor a means for holding the outer spring case section 6 stationary orrigid preliminary to the ejection of the medicant from the ampoule.

In Figure l the last referred to means embodies two brake shoes eachforming a semicircle around the outer spring case section: (i. brakeshoe in turn is held lightly against -V this spring case section 5 bytwo spring wires I0 which form links or pivotal connections between thebrake shoesand the portion Ib of the syringe body orv casing. The normalposition of the links or suspension means I9 is such that any tendencyof the spring case section t to move to the .eit asv seen in Figures 1or 2 is resisted by the automatic dragging or braking action of theshoesSl In: Figure l, I provide certain gearing and operating devices forplacing the spring I2 un'- der tension as it works in connection withthe spring case section enclosing same. This means includes an internal'gear 23 that provides a revo'luble handle and which gear meshes with aspur gear 24. The gear 2li in turn engages gear 25 and there areadditional gear reductions at 22 and 2| for carrying the turning forceof the above mentioned gears to the screw I9. The gear 2l is secured tothe screw I9. The screw I'S hollow and mounted upon the shaft ida whichcarries the gear .22 fixed thereto. Turning of the han'F dle Vgear 23will result in several turns of the screw lil. Riding on the screw le isa nut 2U which is engaged with a spline or guide member 2da thatprevents turning of the nut. When the screw I9 is rotated by means ofthe handle gear 23, as seen in Figure l, the 'nut 2B moves to the left.-By means of rods :I8 attached tothe nut, the bearing plate Il alsoattached to the rods moves to the left an equal distance with the nut.The bearing plate I? is rigidly fastened to the closed end lo of thesmaller spring case or section member lil and would push the entirespring assembly and case to the left unless the brake means 3 wereprovided. The friction between the brake shoes t and the member Blof thespring caseisgreater the more pressure is exerted against the springoase section` 6V to the left, and only upon release of the friction cithe brake shoes 9 will the spring case section E ybe permitted to moveleitward. Thus as the gear 23 is turned, the screw I9 revolves and nut2li moves forward or to the left moving with it the bearing plate Ilagainst the inner spring case member I5 which in turn compresses thespring l2 without moving the outer spring case 6. v

When the operator desires to use the dissolved medicant in the ampoule,he presses lever 3", which in turn presses down the toggle linkse andlthus forces a brake release wedge 23 between the semi-circular brakemembers il, moving vthe latter apart. Slight pressure on the lever 3will permitonlyy a slow movement of the section S of the spring case tothe left, and the end of which bears against plunger R, S, T, of theampoule or cartridge. Thus a slow discharge from the cartridge will takeplace in the injection operation, even permitting a drop by drop ow. Onthe other hand, if. a full streamrof medicant is desired at higherpressure, more force is exerted on the lever 3, which in turn separatesthe'brake members S further and permits a rapid ilow by reason of rapidmovement of spring case member 6. Release of the member 3 stops the owentirely because the member E cannot move under the action of the energystored up inthe spring-i2.

The left hand end or closed portion of the spring case section 6 is of adiameter very slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the glass tubeA of the ampoule, and therefore the said end oi the mem-ber 6 is adaptedto enter the tube and to force the right hand plunger R, S, T of theampoule against the liquid medicant for ejecting the same through theneedle 25. After the contents of the ampoule have been discharged, thehandle gear 23 is given one complete turn in the opposite direction toits spring energizing direction of movement, and this brings the nut 29back to its original position. The movement of the nut pulls on the rodsi8 and upon the casing section lli and an end ilange I3' on said casingsection engages lugs i6 on the inner surface of the section 6 of thespring casing, and thus the section S is pulled back as the spring I2expands and assumes its original condition wherein energy is not storedtherein by means of the gear 23. A ring member if may be used to holdthe portion le of the syringe casing in proper cooperation with the ringgear 23 that forms the operating handle, see Figure 1. Normally a spring5 cooperates with the toggle links 4 to maintain the same and the handle3 in the unoperated positions thereof as seen in Figure l. Of course, inthe restoring action of the parts last referred to the movement in arightward direction of the case section 6 is not resisted by the brakeshoes` 9 owing to the arrangement of the supporting links l0 for thelatter.

In the modication of Figure 6 I again use the handle gear 23 and gears2&3 and 25 cooperative therewith, but in this instance the gear 25carries a shaft and the shaft carries a worm 33. The Worm 33 engages theteeth of a rack bar 34 and the rack bar is secured to the adjacentclosed end of the spring casing member I5. By turningof the, worm 33 ina reverse direction the reverse movement may be imparted to the rack 34necessary to perform the functions previously described in regard to thespring compressing operation and the release of compression. In thisconstruction I use the unique brake means illustrated in Figures 6 and11 of the drawings. The brake devices consist of discs having arc-shapedslots therein, the arcs of which commence at the center ofthe discs andapproach the peripheral portions, the slots being therefore eccentric.The discs are designated 3Iland the slots 3|, and a ring surrounding thesection passes through the slots 3l and is designated 32. The said ringmay be suitably supported in the portion ib of the syringe casing, andby reason of the method of mounting of the discs 3S, it will be seenthat movement to the left of casing member 6 is resisted bythe brakingeffect of said discs. Therefore, I use. a sleeve 29 operable by thelever 3 and bythe proper link member 4a, normally held to the left bymeans of the spring action 5, which sleeve 29 is adapted to engage theperipheral portions of the in a cavity AA--I of the plastic plunger.

discs 3G and thereby to release the'braking effect thereof when it isdesired to permit movement of the spring'section 5 for causing theejection of the medicant from the ampoule.

In Figure 7 of the drawings I show a further modification of myinvention. In the Figure 7 construction I utilize a crank lever 39 onthe side of the body of the syringe by which to give a completerevolution to an internal gear 36.` The internal gear in turn engages aspur gear 31 which is engaged with a rack 38 and imparts movement to thelatter. The rackr38 is of courserattached to the closed end of the innerspring case section l5 and the operation is substantially the same as inthe Figure' construction.

In Figures 9 and 10 I have illustrated another modification in which aturning lever or crank 39a is operable from a side of the syringe bodyand its shaft portion is connected with a bevel gear 40 inside thecasing of the syringe. As the rangement as illustrated in Figure 1, orit may be substituted by a worm and rack arrangement as shown in Figure6. It is quite clear how the drive may be carried from the crank handle39 to the screw I9 and from the screw I9 to the nut which is theconstruction actually illustrated in Figures 9 and 10, and is similar tothat illustrated in Figure l.

In Figures. 13 and 14 I have illustrated a modied form of plunger suchas may Vbe used in substitution for the plunger B, CD, E previouslydescribed, or the plunger J, K, L, M ypreviously described. In this typeof construction the body of the plunger is molded plastic as illustratedat A, A. Anyone of the plastics which can withstand a sterilizing heatis suitable for the purpose inasmuch as it may be desirable always tosterilize the complete plunger and in vfact the complete assembly in thetube of the ampoule. In the modified construction of plunger it iscontemplated to employ a rubber disc BB inserted Rubber rings CC areYplaced in the grooves AA-Z of the plastic plunger. The grooves holdthese rubber rings rigidly and the rubber rings are designed so thatthey fit snugly in the glass tube A of the ampoule. This gives smooth,yet tight and leakproof construction. The rubber rings are preferablymade from rubber stock which has Vparaffine incorporated therein so thatthe' rings may have a lubricating quality useful for-permitting themovement of the plungers inside the glass tube of the ampoule. At AA--Sis the ridge at the endV of the orifice and slots are cut into thisridge to provide the construction which is indicated in Figure 12 wherethe projections E' are seen as extending from the plastic disc member E.The tubular arm or member AA-ll serves the dual -purpose of containing amedicant and Yactuating the diaphragm or member H. For the middleplunger of an ampoule 1ike shown in Figure 5, the parts AA-4 asillustrated in Figure li'would be solid and merely constitute a tiltingarm for the member P.

The operations of the several forms of my syringe invention as set forthherein has been pointed out as an incident to the explanation of theconstructions utilized, and it is believed they will be fully understoodwith reference tothe specific description supplied.

I do not wish to be limited to the precise or detail forms ofconstruction as I have furnished the same in my drawings, becausevarious departures may be made therefrom within the pur- View of myclaims hereto annexed.

The ampoule of Figure is useful in syringes employing a valve in theapplicator section to control passage of the medicant through the needle26 so the operating means of the operating section would not be employedor be useful under such conditions.

In the Figure 6 construction spring I2 is omit- Q ted and screws 23aentering an annular groove in the member I c permit swiveling rotationof the handle 23 on said member Ic.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. In a syringe, in combination, an applicator section for containingmedicant, an operating section, and medicant ejecting means in theoperating section including a spring case comprising relatively movablespring enclosing sections, a spring in the case, instrumentalities tocompress the spring by relative movement of the case sections includinga handle turnable on the operating section and a member operable by thehandle to move a case section to put the spring under compression, andmanually controllable detent means to normally restrain a section of thecase against medicant ejecting action under` the action of the spring.

2. In a syringe, in combination, an applicator section adapted toreceive an ampoule for containing medicant, an operating section, andmedicant ejecting means in the operating section inf cluding a springcase comprising relative movable spring enclosing sections, a spring inthe case, instrumentalities to compress the spring by relative movementvof the case sections, and

manually controllable detent means to normally f restrain a section oithe case against medicant taining medicant, an operating section, and.medicant ejecting .means in the operating section in.. cluding a. springcase' comprising relative movable spring enclosing sections, a spring inthe case, instrumentalities to compress the spring by relative movementof the case sections, and manV ually controllable detent means tonormally restrain a section of the case against medicant electing actionunder the action of the spring, in which the instrumentalities mentionedinclude a handle turnable on the operatingA section', and A spur gearand rack devices operable by the handle to move a case section to putthe spring under compression.

MARVIN L. FOLKMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 387,761 Briggs Aug, 14, 18881,258,018 Kilgore Mar. 5, 1918 2,101,140 Hege Dec, 7, 1937 2,150,738Dunajei Mar. 14, 1939 2,313,483 Smith Mar. 9, 1943 2,322,244 LockhartJune 22, 1943

